Im kinda surprised at Rigel Kents stance on this thread. As a long time poster, you normally give great advise.
On this thread you suggest every team has kins with them and defender nukes should be used.
Suggesting a dark or a storm defender would want to nuke is a bad idea. 9 times outta 10 those toggles those defenders are using is what is keeping the team alive. Hitting a nuke during a battle with those toggles running (shadowfall/steamy mist, darkest night/AA) will almost certainly cause a teamwipe when they drop.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Shadow Ravenwolf
My favorite combo is Faceplant/DebtCap with the TeamWipe Ancillary
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dispari
Yeah, I like Blasters too.
 |
Quote:
Not really. A poorly timed nuke, sure - but then ANY AT can cause a teamwipe with badly played powers. A defender nuke used to finish out a spawn is just great. Sonic, Dark, Rad nukes all have great secondaries that make any remaining mobs helpless (and I am guessing that the others do too). And though I LOOOOOVE the shadowfall/arctic fog/steamy mist thing, it is NOT the only thing you have done to keep the team alive - assuredly, by using ALL of your debuff/buff powers, that is only 1 thing helping keep them all alive. Dead mobs don't shoot back - so that nuke helps your team also!|
Originally Posted by JamMasterJMS
Suggesting a dark or a storm defender would want to nuke is a bad idea. 9 times outta 10 those toggles those defenders are using is what is keeping the team alive. Hitting a nuke during a battle with those toggles running (shadowfall/steamy mist, darkest night/AA) will almost certainly cause a teamwipe when they drop.
|
But it is also a play style preference. I don't like to nuke with a defender myself. I run 2-3 leadership toggles (not everyone takes these on their toons), I run my epic armor (likewise), I typically run hover/combat jumping (not all of my toons take these, let alone other players) and I run shadowfall/steamy (on the dark and the storm). For *me* it is a pain in the wahoo to retoggle, but I would NEVER say "never nuke" to any defender. I would say "INTELLIGENTLY nuke!"
as a Storm your very endurance heavy with Steamy Mist, Snow Storm and Hurricane on. Picking just Assault or Maneuvers might not crash your endurance but you won't really need it. Many other people pick up leadership so its not that big of a deal. If your not running out of endurance too quickly with Hurricane, Steamy Mist, Snow Storm and EPP Shield then go for it. But I wouldn't recommend it.
Whining about everything since 2006.
Ammo switching for Dual Pistols was my idea:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=135484
Just an update on my Defender...I ended up taking manuevers and assault on my path to Vengeance. I don't have any IOs right now, so both toggles have two slots of end, and it isn't that bad. It seems like it is helping, but it's hard to tell sometimes.
I just got Vengeance, and just as I suspected...I'm over-excited to use it, so I don't think anyone has received the buff but me. 
Quote:
This is great advice, and I plan on using it, except maybe tweaking it a little. The first keybind would target the nearest defeated and send a message to teamchat, and the next would actually fire off the power. I think that will help me buff more than myself.|
Originally Posted by Scientist
For Vengeance, I recommend a keybind as below;
V "unselect$$target_custom_near defeated friend$$powexec_name Vengeance" By hitting the V key, you autotarget the nearest dead teammate body and activate Vengeance off them. Much faster then trying to select them off the teammate window and remember what tray you parked Veng on. |
My only question is when Veng. fires, is the AoE centered on me, or the dead dude?
Quote:
Well, sure, not every team has a kin. Sometimes you're solo. |
Originally Posted by JamMasterJMS
On this thread you suggest every team has kins with them
|
Kidding aside, I'm probably undervaluing Assault's contribution to opening up Vengeance while teaming. And Assault solo is fine, of course.
Re: Dark and Storm nuking
Depends a little on the nuke. If it's your typical newbie "look at me!" Nova, yeah, the team's got problems. But every other Defender nuke is BAD NEWS for targets. Defender Blackstar is the nastiest -tohit debuff in the game bar none -- it floors +2s right out of the box with no enhancements. Atomic Blast holds stuff. Dreadful Wail stuns stuff. Psychic Wail stuns stuff and slows their recharge to a crawl. Thunderous Blast empties blue bars and shuts off recovery for 20 seconds. Blizzard knocks down more reliably than Sleet and Freezing Rain. So, given what defender nukes (other than Nova) do, I have a hard time imagining a team wiping in the 20 seconds after any defender nuke, ever.
If we're still in disagreement, we could all just hold hands and find solace in our middle ground: Vengeance is great to use after a nuke because it doesn't cost endurance.
I took Maneuvers and Tactics on my Kin. I figured that the damage buff from FS couldn't be used to its full potential if people were missing.
Quote:
My advice: Do you what you yourself want.|
Originally Posted by trendee
For my first defender, I'm planning out a storm/dark defender and I was looking at the leadership pool, which I noticed gives the most benefit for defenders. How bad should I feel for not taking these? Should I be a team player and get these toggles?
|
If after you've got what you want in your build and you have some powers left to debate over, leadership is certainly one to look at. The cumulative affect of leadership (both as it stacks with other leaderships and that it stacks on top of any other bonuses) for multiple people can't be ignored. Given that defenders often choose fewer of their secondary powers, leadership is an obvious candidate.
On the other hand, if you have few (or even no powers) left by the time you've chosen the powers you want in line with the style of play you want to exercise, then don't feel bad about not taking leadership. There's a trade-off here, and it's a question of whether those other 2-3-4 powers you'd gain by not taking leadership is worth it. You may find that those 2-3-4 powers you've chosen instead provide both your character and the team other benefits that outweigh those given by leadership.
Your call, really. I wouldn't feel obliged to take it either way, just as for any other AT and power set groupings.
I recommend Leadership Pool for defenders if you have the space. On my Dark/Sonic and Cold/Ice I have Leadership since I mainly team and I love giving my comrades the extra buffs. Not to mention, it helps make my characters a bit more powerful and reach lofty goals like my Dark/Sonic being Soft-capped to Range Defense.
But I suggest taking Leadership after you have taken the major hitters from your primary/secondary.
I was just about to ask the same question.
I've got a 37 dark/rad defender running with just maneuvers right now to stack with shadowfall. I'm wondering if I should continue down the leadership path and pick up assault and vengeance and a couple ancillary powers.
Or should I pick up teleport and soul transfer. The ability to rez myself and the team seems very helpful, but I'm wondering if I'd be better off just using vengeance. Not too many people die after vengeance has been dropped.
Edit: Upon further thought, I think I should base my build around what will keep my team alive, not what I'll need incase everyone face plants. In that case, I'll probably pick up assault to stack with the -res of tar patch and keep vengeance around for the occasional blaster or scrapper who got carried away. That will leave me room for dark consumption, dark embrace, and soul drain, which are all very helpful powers.
Could dual build and see which works out better.
Quote:
Dark miasma doesnt get soul transfer, thats dark armor (scrapper secondary).|
Originally Posted by North_Woods
I was just about to ask the same question.
Or should I pick up teleport and soul transfer. The ability to rez myself and the team seems very helpful, but I'm wondering if I'd be better off just using vengeance. Not too many people die after vengeance has been dropped. |
Howling twilight is an auto hit mag 2 (i think) stun with some -regen in it. It also has the side benefit of rezzing a full team to full health.
If you die playing dark miasma, you cant use HT.
Hitting vengeance after a player drops then rezzing is hella-good-time though.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Shadow Ravenwolf
My favorite combo is Faceplant/DebtCap with the TeamWipe Ancillary
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dispari
Yeah, I like Blasters too.
|
Quote:
Actually, with Issue 16, Defenders get Soul Transfer in the Dark Mastery epic pool.
|
Originally Posted by JamMasterJMS
Dark miasma doesnt get soul transfer, thats dark armor (scrapper secondary).
Howling twilight is an auto hit mag 2 (i think) stun with some -regen in it. It also has the side benefit of rezzing a full team to full health. If you die playing dark miasma, you cant use HT. Hitting vengeance after a player drops then rezzing is hella-good-time though. |
-Words cannot express how I fell nor pictures. I feel nothing but sadness.
Wtf!!!!
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Shadow Ravenwolf
My favorite combo is Faceplant/DebtCap with the TeamWipe Ancillary
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dispari
Yeah, I like Blasters too.
|
Heh, I've just hit 44 and I've actually turned off XP because I'm waiting for Soul Transfer.
Quote:
The buff is 100' radius centered on you. The fallen teammate has to be within 60'.
|
Originally Posted by Karl_Rove_Man
My only question is when Veng. fires, is the AoE centered on me, or the dead dude?
|
I just thought.
A ddd just died in a mission. Soul transfer, HT, OG, DP.
Thats like 35 mag of stun in like 10.87234 secs?
Add another and you can start to talk about holding AV's through PtoDs in nanoseconds.
Wonder if ST's stun will get changed like nightfall did (ranged damage mods) in scrappers epic.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Shadow Ravenwolf
My favorite combo is Faceplant/DebtCap with the TeamWipe Ancillary
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dispari
Yeah, I like Blasters too.
|
People think I'm joking when I say that.